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'One of the best No. 8s in the world': Wallabies rookie Harry Wilson reveals the All Black he 'would love to play against'

Harry Wilson of the Reds celebrates scoring a try.

Young Queensland loose forward Harry Wilson proved himself as one of the breakout stars of Super Rugby in both its pre-COVID and Australia-only formats this season.

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The same can be said of Blues youngster Hoskins Sotutu, who took Super Rugby and Super Rugby Aotearoa by storm with a series of compelling displays for the Auckland franchise.

As a result, both players are considered frontrunners to face off against each other at No. 8 in the first Bledisloe Cup match of the year in Wellington on October 11.

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Given his devastating ball-running and immense defensive work rate, most young players would be left intimidated at the prospect of having to mark up against Sotutu, who was undoubtedly one of the stars in a reinvigorated Blues side this year.

That isn’t the case for Wilson, though, who was similarly influential for the Reds en route to their Super Rugby AU runners-up finish on Saturday.

With attributes that almost mirror that of Sotutu, 20-year-old Wilson says he would be excited to test himself against the 22-year-old who instilled him with the confidence to shine for the Reds.

“Being a No. 8, I really enjoyed watching Hoskins Sotutu play this season,” last year’s Australia U20 representative said on Tuesday.

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“I though he was superb. It was just really cool watching him play, being another young No. 8, I guess gave me confidence seeing how well he could play at his age, so he’s one person I’ve enjoyed playing.

“[He’s] a player I’d love to play against because I could see him being one of the best No. 8s in the world pretty quickly.”

That praise could equally be directed at Wilson himself, with Crusaders head coach Scott Robertson among those to acknowledge the uncapped sensation’s talent.

Speaking to Fox Sports following his side’s 49-14 win over the Sunwolves in Brisbane earlier this year, Robertson admitted he had “fallen” for Wilson after having impressed in the opening rounds of the initial Super Rugby competition.

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“I’ve officially fallen for, have I mentioned, Harry Wilson,” Robertson, who went on to guide the Crusaders to the Super Rugby Aotearoa crown – their fourth title in as many years – said.

“As an ex-No. 8, his ability to set a bit of footwork is special. The other No. 7, Liam Wright, and even the guy [Fraser McReight] off the bench … they’re coming.”

It seems new Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie agrees with that sentiment, as Wright and McReight, both of whom also stood out alongside Wilson as part of Queensland’s loose forward trio, were included in his 44-man squad a fortnight ago.

Although he was appreciative of the praise, Wilson said he took Robertson’s comments with a grain of salt.

“I really appreciated the comments because it’s coming from somebody who had such a successful rugby career, and now coaching career, but I guess I can’t really take those comments too seriously,” he said.

“That was after when we [played] them. I guess I appreciate the comments, but yeah, I haven’t really worried about them.”

The Wallabies will depart for New Zealand on Friday before undergoing a two-week quarantine period prior to their first match against the All Blacks next month.

Wilson suggested that being forced into isolation for a fortnight might be enough to give him and his teammate a little more motivation leading into that series-opener.

“The first few days of quarantine I might enjoy lying down and just refreshing the body a bit, but it’ll be weird just being in the room by myself for three or four days,” he said.

“I’m quite a talkative person so I’ll be FaceTiming a lot of people.

“It’ll be an interesting experience, but I guess having those few days by yourself will make you pretty excited to get back out on the field and just being around the boys.”

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Tom 3 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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